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| Its territory covers most of the original northern Greek region of ]. Its name was later imparted to a wider ] region that became known in modern times as '']''. Iy was under the ] until 1912. In 1913, most of the Ottoman lands in Europe were divided between the surrounding countries of ], ] and ]; ] and ] formed new entities. | Its territory covers most of the original northern Greek region of ]. Its name was later imparted to a wider ] region that became known in modern times as '']''. Iy was under the ] until 1912. In 1913, most of the Ottoman lands in Europe were divided between the surrounding countries of ], ] and ]; ] and ] formed new entities. | ||
| ⚫ | ] as used by the three peripheries of |
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| ==Local government== | ==Local government== | ||
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| ⚫ | ] as used by the three peripheries of Greek Macedonia]] | ||
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Revision as of 04:03, 14 May 2006
- This article is about the region in Greece. For other uses, see Macedonia.
Macedonia (IPA /ˌmæsəˈdoʊ̯nɪə/, Greek: Μακεδονία, Makedonia) is the largest and second most populous region of Greece. Together with the regions of Thrace and Epirus, it is often referred to unofficially as northern Greece. It is located at coordinates 40°45′N 22°54′E / 40.750°N 22.900°E / 40.750; 22.900.
Its territory covers most of the original northern Greek region of ancient Macedonia. Its name was later imparted to a wider Balkan region that became known in modern times as Macedonia. Iy was under the Ottoman Empire until 1912. In 1913, most of the Ottoman lands in Europe were divided between the surrounding countries of Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria; Albania and Montenegro formed new entities.
Local government
Macedonia is divided into three peripheries comprising thirteen prefectures or nomoi. The prefectures are further divided into demoi (municipalities) or koinotetes (roughly equivalent to British or Australian shires). The geographical region of Macedonia also includes the male-only autonomous monastic republic of Mount Athos, but this is not part of the Macedonia precincts. Indeed, Mount Athos lies outside the jurisdiction of most Greek and European laws, - due to to whole mountain's monastic status, it is inaccessible to women.
The three Macedonian peripheries and their prefectures are:
- West Macedonia, comprising:
- Central Macedonia, comprising:
- 5. Pella
- 6. Imathia
- 7. Pieria
- 8. Kilkis
- 9. Thessaloniki
- 10. Chalcidice
- 11. Serres
- and East Macedonia and Thrace, two prefectures of which are in Macedonia:
These are overseen by the national government's Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace.
Macedonia borders the neighboring peripheries of Thessaly and Epirus.
Geography
Macedonia covers an area of some 34,231 km² (13,217 square miles). High ground makes up much of the region with mountains reaching up to 2,900 m (6,500 ft); extensive fertile plains lie along the Aegean Sea coast. Macedonia is traversed by the valleys of the Aliakmon, Axios, Nestos, and Strymon rivers, all of which drain into the Aegean. It borders the countries of Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and the Greek provinces of Epirus, Thessaly and Thrace. The offshore island of Thasos is within the precincts of Macedonia; together with Samothrace, they belong to the region of 'Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (Ανατολική Μακεδονία και Θράκη)'.
The region has a population of 2,625,681, and its capital and largest city is Thessaloniki, with a population of around 773,180.
Since WWII, Greek Macedonia is sometimes called "Aegean Macedonia" to distinguish it from "Pirin Macedonia" (in Bulgaria) and "Vardar Macedonia" . Although this term is now used mostly by Slavic Macedonians and occasionally in historical contexts, it is strongly disliked by many Greeks, who regard it as implying territorial claims on Greek Macedonia due to the origin and the usage of that term.
| Other major Macedonian towns and cities (Population) | |
| 1. Thessaloniki (with a population of around) | 773,180 |
| 2. Kavala | 63,774 |
| 3. Katerini | 56,434 |
| 4. Serres | 56,145 |
| 5. Drama | 55,632 |
| 6. Kozani | 47,451 |
| 7. Veria | 47,411 |
| 8. Ptolemaida | 32,775 |
| 9. Giannitsa | 26.296 |
| 10. Edessa | 25,619 |
| 11. Kilkis | 24,812 |
| 12. Naoussa | 19,870 |
| 13. Florina | 16,711 |
| 14. Kastoria | 16,218 |
| 15. Grevena | 15,481 |
| 16. Alexandria | 13,229 |
| 17. Polygyros | 10,271 |
The capital
Thessaloníki, Thessalonica or Salonica (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη) is the the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia and the second-largest city of Greece. It is also the capital of the Thessaloniki prefecture and the capital of the EU region (or, synonymously, Greek periphery) of Central Macedonia. Today's population of the city's metropolitan area is around 1.000.000.
Thessaloniki is a thriving, vibrant city and its commercial port is of a strategic importance for Greece. It is a major economic, industrial, commercial and cultural center as well as a transportation hub in southeastern Europe. The city hosts a large student population and it is widely renowned for its large number of monuments of Byzantine architecture as well as its eminent nightlife.
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History
The history of Greek Macedonia is very long, from ancient Greece to modern. It started with the Kingdom of Macedonia, (that was reorganised by Philip II), through the empire of Alexander the Great, continues within the Roman and Byzantine empire, the domination of the Ottomans (from 14th century until 1912) and the Balkan Wars.
Modern History
- See History of Modern Greece, History of Modern Macedonia, Macedonian Struggle, Greek Civil War and the Macedonian Question
Etymology
Demography
The inhabiants are overwhelmingly ethnic Greeks, most members of the Greek Orthodox Church. From the middle ages to the early 20th century, the demographic history of the region of Macedonia is characterized by uncertainty both about numbers and identification. The 1904 Ottoman census of Hilmi Pasha records 373,227 Greeks and 204,317 Bulgarians in the vilaeti of Thessaloniki alone, while it makes no mention on a Macedonian Slavic ethnicity (which at the time was regarded as Bulgarian). According to the same census, Greek population was also dominant in the vilaet of Monastiri (Bitola), counting 261,283 Greeks and 178,412 Bulgarians (later regarded as Macedonian Slavs). Hugh Poulton, in his Who Are the Macedonians, notes "assessing population figures is problematic" for the territory of Greek Macedonia before its incorporation into the Greek state in 1913 . The area's remaining population was principally composed of Ottomans and also some Jews, and at much smaller numbers of Roma, Albanian and Vlachs.
During the first half of the twentieth century, major demographic shifts took place, which resulted in the region's population becoming overwhelmingly ethnic Greek. In 1919, Bulgaria and Greece signed the Treaty of Neuilly, which called for an exchange of populations between the two countries. According to the treaty, Bulgaria was considered to be the parent state of all ethnic Slavs living in Greece. Most ethnic Greeks from Bulgaria were resettled in Greek Macedonia; most Slavs were resettled in Bulgaria but a number, remained, most of them by changing or adapting their surnames and declaring themselves to be Greek so as to be exempt from the exchange. In 1923 Greece and Turkey signed the Treaty of Lausanne, and hundreds of thousands of Asian Greeks from Anatolia were resettled in the region replacing Macedonian Turks and other Muslims (of Albanian, Greek, Roma, Slavic and Vlach ethnicity) under similar terms.
Macedonian cities during Ottoman rule were often known by multiple names (Greek, Slavic or Turkish by the respective populations). After the partition of Ottoman Europe, cities in Greece became officially known only by their Greek names, and cities in Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia became likewise officially known only in the languages of their respective states. After the population exchanges, many locations were renamed to the languages of their new occupants.
The population was badly affected by the Second World War through starvation, executions, massacres and deportations. Nazi-aligned Bulgaria's occupation forces persecuted the local Greek population and settled Bulgarian colonists in their occupation zone in eastern Macedonia and western Thrace, deporting all Jews from the region. Total civilian deaths in Macedonia are estimated at over 400,000, including 55,000 Greek Jews. Further heavy fighting affected the region during the Greek Civil War which, combined with post-war poverty, drove many inhabitants of rural Macedonia to emigrate either to the towns and cities, or abroad. Even today, many parts of Macedonia are fairly sparsely inhabited.
Greek is by far the most widely spoken -and the only official- language of public life and education in Macedonia. There are also some smaller linguistic communities, including speakers of Pontian Greek, Macedonian dialect (Greek), Slavic Macedonian, Armenian, Aromanian, Ladino, Meglenitic, Romany, and Bulgarian languages. A number of Albanians also live in the region, having immigrated since the collapse of communism in Albania in 1992.
The exact size of the minority groups of Macedonia is unclear, as Greece has not conducted a census on the question of mother tongue since 1951, when 41,017 speakers of the Slavic language were recorded. The Greek government's position is that the native-born minorities are Greek Macedonians who happen to speak other languages. This has been a cause of controversy for some time, particularly regarding the Slavic Macedonians, who regard themselves as culturally and linguistically different from the Greek majority. The issue is a sensitive one for many Greeks, and the Greek government's treatment of its minority populations has attracted criticism from international human rights groups . However, the Slavic Macedonians have been represented by their own political party, the "rainbow party" (Ουράνιο Τόξο in Greek), for quite a few years now. Its percentage in the 2004 European Parliament election was 0.1% (with 6176 votes).
Macedonian
Main article: Greek MacedoniansThe term Macedonian (Greek: Μακεδόνας, IPA /mace'ðonas/) is commonly used in Greece (including, obviously, in the northern Greek province of Macedonia) and in the Hellenic world, in a geographical (and to a lesser extent historical) sense to refer to Greeks originating from or living in the historical northern Greek province of Macedonia. This is one of the main reasons cited by Greeks to explain their objection to the use of the term to describe a specific ethno-nation that excludes them as is the case in the neighbouring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Economy and Transport
Despite its rugged terrain, Macedonia possesses some of the richest farmland in Greece in the plain of Drama and the valleys of the Strimon and Axios. A wide variety of foodstuffs and cash crops are grown, including rice, wheat, beans, olives, cotton, tobacco, fruit, grapes, wine and other alcoholic beverages. Food processing and textile weaving constitute the principal manufacturing industries. Tourism is a major industry along the coast, particularly in the Chalcidice peninsula, the island of Thasos and the northern approaches to Mount Olympus. Many tourists originate from Greece's immediate neighbours.
Thessaloniki is a major port city and industrial centre; Kavala is the other harbour of Macedonia. Apart from the principal airport at Thessaloniki (Makedonia Airport), airports also exist in Kavala (M.Alexandros Airport), Kozani (Filippos Airport), and Kastoria (Aristotelis Airport). The "Via Egnatia" motorway crosses the full distance of Macedonia, linking its main cities.
The Anthem of Macedonia
Famous Macedonia (Greek: Μακεδονία ξακουστή, Makedonia ksakusti) is a patriotic song often regarded as the anthem of the Greek region of Macedonia.
The ( Anthem, song ...) hymn Famous Macedonia, is associated with the Makedonomáchi (Macedonian fighters and/or fighters for Macedonia) in "Macedonian Struggle" and can be heard on parades and national anniversaries. Until the recent introduction of 24 hour programming, it also marked the end of radio programs on the local Macedonian channel, played before the Greek national anthem. According to Greek Army's website it is a military march (εμβατήριο) based on the traditional "Macedonian Dance" (Μακεδονικός Χορός) which is related with Akrites of Byzantium.
It is written in Dorian scale, in iambic 15-syllable (ιαμβικός δεκαπεντασύλλαβος).
The beat is 2/4 and it can be danced as a chassapiko (χασάπικο).
It can be performed in conjunction with the Makedonia dance.
| Lyrics in Greek | Latin transliteration | English translation |
|---|---|---|
|
ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΙΑ ΞΑΚΟΥΣΤΗ Μακεδονία ξακουστή ήσουν και θα ΄σαι ελληνική, Οι Μακεδόνες δεν μπορούν |
MAKEDONIA KSAKUSTI Makedonia ksakusti, isun ke tha se elliniki, i Makedones den borun |
FAMOUS MACEDONIA Famous Macedonia You were and you'll be Greek, Macedonians cannot |
Audio Samples
See also
Notes and references
- EUROPA - The EU at a glance - Maps - Greece - Anatoli Makedona Kai Traki
- ^ Poulton, Hugh (2000). "Greece". In Second (ed.). Who Are the Macedonians?. Indiana University Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0253213592.
- Human Rights Watch/Helsinki (1994). "Denying Ethnic Identity" (PDF). Human Rights Watch.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Ministry of the Interior Public Administration and Decentralization - EU Parliament Elections Website, EU Elections Results
External links
- Macedonian information center
- Map of Makedonia
- Animated Map of the History of Macedonia
- The truth about Macedonia
- Museums of Macedonia
- Region of Central Macedonia
- Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
- City of Thessaloniki
- City of Edessa
- University of Macedonia
- University of Western Macedonia
- Macedonian Press Agency
- An online review of Macedonian affairs, history and culture
- Map of Macedonia
- Pan-Macedonian Network
- Macedonia, The Historical Profile of Northern Greece
- Macedonia guide for visitors
- Macedonia On The Web
- Roman province of Macedonia
- Greek Macedonian
- Macedonia
- Makedonia
- Information of Macedonia
- Travel info of Macedonia
